bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of each nation -- evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which i am about to enter. so help me god. >> congratulations. >> thank you. [applause] >> madam justice, these are some

of my friends. i wanted to explain to you what a wonderful honor it was and how much of the way this justice had to go. she is due in new york. she has to leave right now. we are going to walk out, her car is waiting, so that she can catch a train that i hope i haven't caused her to miss. i am going to meet president to do the traditional lane of the wreath at the tomb over in arlington. we are having breakfast. i will be back in 40 minutes. i hope some of you will still be here. i don't know very much for sharing this moment jill and i, and madame justice, it has been a great honor. [applause]

>> please remain behind the chains.

[drum line]

♪

>> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office

of president of the united states and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defense the constitution of the united states so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >>,, mr. chief justice,, so much. -- thank you mr. chief justice, thank you so much. i'd. -- i did it. >> on the eve of the presidential inauguration ceremony, president obama, vice- president biden, along with the first lady and jiabao -- joe biden attended the candlelight reception to think donors for their help in the 2012 campaign. he said the inauguration should remind americans of the role to

promote the common good. from the national building museum in washington, this is about 25 minutes. >> good evening,. thank you so much for joining us tonight. more than that, thank you for the kindness, friendship, and support that you have shown us since we began this long journey together. we would not be here without your help. that means so much to me and jill. joe and i are thrilled. i know you feel the same way, to have barack obama as our president for another four years. [applause] and michelle as first lady. [applause] i may be a little biased, but i cannot think of a better man than my husband to help our president lead our country for the next four years.

[applause] as long as he has the privilege of serving this nation, i know that joe will keep fighting for american people every day. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming my husband, our vice president, joe biden. [applause] >> hello. i am joe biden, husbands, and i am delighted to be with you all here. let me begin with the simplest of statements. thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. you are the only reason that we are here. thank you for support, thank you for being here, and most of all, thank you for believing in us. ladies and gentlemen, i have been honored to serve as vice president. but i have been especially

honored to serve as a rock obama's vice president. this man has already done a remarkable job. historic health care reform, to supreme court appointees, ending the war in iraq and about two and the war in afghanistan, and stating forthrightly his support for marriage equality. i want you to know something else about this guy. he is just getting started. [applause] he is just getting started. in the weeks and months ahead, we are going to reduce gun violence here in america. we are going to pass comprehensive immigration reform. we are going to put this nation's economy on a

sustainable path to the future. ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce you to a magnificent first lady, michelle obama and the guy she hangs out with, my friend, president barack obama. [applause] hey. [applause] cominght you weren't out! i thought you weren't coming. but you changed your mind. [applause] >> hi, everybody. [applause] excuse our tardiness, but you know what? when stevie wonder has a few words to say to you, you don't rush stevie wonder.

pardon our delay. [applause] thank you so much. thank you for that kind introduction. more importantly, thank you for your leadership. [applause] i love joe biden. [applause] i love jill a little bit more. [laughter] but i want to thank you both for making this journey so much more fun. our families have bonded and this has just been a phenomenal four years. i am ready to do four more with both of you. most of all, i want to thank all of you here tonight for everything you have done to bring this inauguration to life. this weekend has been such a

wonderful celebration for our people, and for the future, and we know that none of it could have happened without all of you. that is why it is so important for all of us to be here and spend some time with you. this weekend, as we look ahead to the next four years, we should absolutely take some time to truly enjoy this next few days. the last one was kind of fast. we have all agreed we are going to take some time to just read in and enjoy it. let's also remember that this inauguration is about more than all of the events that we will all enjoy this weekend. it is about more than swearing in a president. it is about more than what we accomplished together over the next four years. it is also about the opportunity we have to make a difference in people's lives.

[applause] the truth is, it is about our opportunity to continue to lift up our families, to help more of our children achieve their dreams, and to put our country on a solid foundation, not just for these next few years, but for generations to come. tonight, let us rededicate ourselves to that work. let us keep building on the progress that we have made, and let's keep working and fighting and pushing forward. forward. [applause] forward. to make the real changes happen. that is what this man, my husband, has been doing for the last four years. [applause] and let me tell you, it has just been a true thrill to watch this handsome, charming, individual grow into the man and the president that he is.

we have seen him every single day, his integrity, his character, his sense of humor -- [laughter] his compassion, his courage, and no matter what the obstacle, we have seen him be so steady facing the challenges that lie ahead. as always, held true to one, unwavering belief. that is that we love this country and we can all work together to change it. so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and pleasure to welcome the love of my life, and our president for the next four years, barack obama. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> hello, everybody. good evening.

first of all, i love michelle obama. [applause] and to address the most significant events of this weekend, i love her bangs. [applause] she looks good. she always looks good. as president, you make a lot of important decisions. probably the most important decision is who is going to be your partner during the course of your presidency. there have been some decisions i got right, some, maybe folks might question. one decision i know was absolutely correct, absolutely spot on, was my choice of vice

president. i could not have a better partner than joe biden. and joe biden could not have a better partner than dr. jill biden. we love these folks. give them a round of applause. [applause] some of you may have heard the story of andrew jackson's inaugural reception. partygoers got so rowdy, they broke expensive china. [laughter] i also want to thank the source for their outstanding entertainment. the u.s. navy see chanters and the guy who has been known to make pretty good music, mr.

stevie wonder. [applause] i am delivering another speech tomorrow. so, tonight i am going to be pretty brief. there are a limited amount of good lines, and i do not want to use them all up tonight. my main purpose tonight is to say thank you. as i look out on the room, we have people of all walks of life. every state, city, suburb. eagle who have invested so much heart, soul, time, money, energy, and one of the things that made this campaign unique was the degree of investment and ownership people had in this common object of hours. you understood this was not just about the candidate.

not just about joe biden or barack obama. this was about us. who we are as a nation. what values we cherish. how hard we are willing to fight to make sure those values live, not just for today, but for future generations. all of you here understood and were committed to the basic notion that, when we put our shoulders to the wheel of history, it moves. it moves forward. that is part of what we celebrate when we come together for inauguration. yesterday americans in all 50 states took part in a national day of service. tomorrow, hundreds of thousands will join us in the national mall. what the inauguration reminds us of is the role we have as fellow citizens.

the sense that there is something larger than ourselves. that gives shape and meaning to our lives. the theme of this years inauguration is our people and our future. throughout my career, that has always given me energy and inspiration and hope, what has allowed me to stand up when i have been knocked down our folks like you. the decency, the goodness, the resilience. the neighborliness. the patriotism. the sense of duty, the sense of responsibility, of the american people. you have inspired me throughout. whenever i think about the challenges that joe and i, jill and michele face, we know that we stand amongst friends and

colleagues and fellow citizens. and that the work is not just ours, we are working together. i just want to say thank you. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. and i want all of you to know that even as we celebrate over the next couple of days, and feel free to stay up as late as you want, tomorrow is not a school night. make sure to bundle up. although, it won't be as cold as it was four years ago. make sure you know that what we are celebrating is not the election or swearing in of a

president, what we are doing is celebrating each other. and celebrating this incredible nation that we call home. and after we celebrate, let's make sure to work as hard as we can to pass on an america that is worthy, not only of our past, but also of our future. god bless you. i love you. we will see you tomorrow. [applause] ♪ [bruce springstein singing "we take care of our own"]

♪ [brooks and dunn singing "only in america"] >> you can watch

the public inaugural ceremonies as president obama begins his second term starting today at 7:00 eastern and continuing all day. president obama will be sworn in at noon, and we will show you other festivities, including the inaugural parade. trout inauguration day, go online to see more videos and